U.S. Case for Helping Iraq Suffers a Setback
By ALEX BERENSON

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 26 -- In purely military terms, the rocket attack Sunday morning on a hotel being used by Paul D. Wolfowitz, the deputy secretary of defense and a leading architect of the war against Saddam Hussein, meant little.

But the strike is a serious setback for the Bush administration as it tries to persuade the world to focus on the positives of the American occupation, on falling crime and new schools, on cleaner streets and freer speech.

Instead, it is a reminder that after easily toppling Mr. Hussein, the United States is struggling against a continuing guerrilla resistance, and struggling even though the guerrillas are badly trained and ill equipped.

But the guerrillas have two great advantages. First, the United States has been reluctant to use its full might against them, for fear of turning civilians against the occupation and inflaming public opinion worldwide.

Second, the guerrillas can win merely by creating chaos. As long as they are killing soldiers and Iraqi civilians, the Bush administration will have a difficult time convincing Americans that Iraq is becoming more stable -- and in winning the foreign investment that Iraq's economy needs.

By that score, the attack on Sunday, which killed an American colonel and wounded 16 other people, was especially damaging. Mr. Wolfowitz came to Iraq hoping to underscore the progress the administration has made, and to persuade investors to come and help Iraq rebuild. He did not back away even after he and his rattled aides were evacuated from the smoking floors of their hotel.

But the attack sent the opposite message, by underscoring the vulnerability of even the best-protected part of the capital.